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World Cup: Algerians wear out their welcome

June 27, 2010 | 12:48
pm

Don’t expect the Algerian team to be welcomed back to South
Africa any time soon.

During the African team’s short stay in the country, it managed
to anger just about everyone it came in contact with -- the staff at the
Algerian Embassy, which it shunned, as well as Algerian reporters, one of whom was
slapped by a player after the team was eliminated from the World Cup last week.

The team also abandoned a celebrity-studded welcoming party,
denied access to staff from its own embassy and turned away the local
politician who was instrumental in arranging its stay at a resort on South Africa’s
Sun Coast, according to a South African newspaper

“We thought they would be more accommodating because we’re their
brothers and sisters,” two fans who were also turned away at the team’s
hotel told the paper.